Every day we take calls from sponsors saying, “They sent me a new child to sponsor,” or “They stopped taking monthly support.” Any of us might be prone to think, “Who is ‘they’?” Well, it’s me. Or you. It’s us.

People don’t assume that whoever answers the phone for Compassion also licks stamps in the mailroom or runs monthly credit-card giving, but for practical purposes, they might as well.

We are one, and we mean to act as one. Most importantly, to the world we are one.

If someone mentions to you that they couldn’t read the translation of their child’s letter, that’s your concern, as though you did the writing.

When someone expresses gratitude that their gift to a child was delivered and met a vital need, good work! You did it! The more often we can take ownership and responsibility for any action, the more unified we become.

An outcome of being one is that we are humbly and integrally joined in single performance of this work. Remember this the next time you see someone pushing a dolly from the mail room or see internal auditors waiting at your desk.

Every smile. Every touch. Every responsible decision and right action. Those bands of jubilant kids at a student center, multiplied times over in every country we serve, and with every decision for Christ! That’s you—that’s us!

The spaces between your actions and mine are the only cracks in the armor. These are opportunities from Satan for pride, jealousy, and contempt. Removing these spaces removes the opportunities, and in doing that we are becoming one.

So when a sponsor says, “They messed up my account,” we say, “Here’s what we did, and I can correct that.” It’s me. It’s us. We did it, and we do it. For God’s purposes, we are one!

In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. —Romans 12:5, NIV

Prayer: Father, do what only you can do with our many members in different places. Make us one today, Lord. We ask for a miracle of unity and cohesion and for a blessed effort to be of one mind, purpose, and action. Thank you for it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jamie Calcara works as a Sponsor and Donor Relations Specialist at the Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.